I can't figure it out.
Sounds like you have it figured out. I must still be on level one.
I've seen the behaviour many times - people tune into, go listen to audio systems that sound like a hifi, rather than are natural ... a little voice inside says a rig should sound like a hifi, if it doesn't then there must be something wrong with it, 🙂. Where I differ is that I don't listen to the mechanical aspects of the replay, I'm comparing it to the 'tonality' of all the natural sounds that are around me all the time - a "good" system should match that quality, not stand out as being distinctively different as an experience - this for one means that the volume can be up to almost ridiculous levels and it doesn't sound "wrong", it matches your well established memories of how real sounds come across when they are very intense ..
source? Or link to?
Or is this another thing so obvious it requires no corroborating evidence?
I would put this into "everyone experiences it, so what's there to prove" category - a good example is listening to a symphonic climax in a concert hall, where there can a huge wash of intricate sound enveloping you, yet the contribution of a single instrument or voice can be clearly heard. And yet further - the conductor is copping an even more extreme blast of this sound, yet can pick the misbehaviour of a single player amidst the cacophany ...
Have never experienced or experimented with such, but have come across a few behaviours that just don't make sense, at first sighting - so I would be loath to say that it's something that can't happen. If it does, there will be some underlying, rational explanation - I aim to always hardwire all cables, one of the first things I do - and that makes a lot of the cable 'behaviours' go away. My experience is that a lot of subtle effects occur because of the relatively poor integrity of the metal to metal contact at the cable connector ends ...
I suggest you are confusing two different subjects.
Most RECORDING systems are not capable of acquiring this level of detail. I do mean system, from transducer to storage medium. Most analog playback systems can produce from inaudible to permanent damage hearing just fine if they were given the input.
A subject of much study is our ability to focus on a correlated sound mixed with many others. The "comment across the room" ability. It is truly amazing and not well understood. What we do know is it is a signals processing ability. They have identified sections of the brain which seem to work on it. It is not dynamic range.
I would love to see some real research done on cable directivity at audio frequencies, even say digital up to the low GHzs.
Now if 10mm of cable can be directional, what about PCB traces, are they directional and if so how do you know which way to route a signal?
And finally AC signals, any comments..
Now if 10mm of cable can be directional, what about PCB traces, are they directional and if so how do you know which way to route a signal?
And finally AC signals, any comments..
That's why I used the phrase "soaking up" - if one is focused on a particular sound then the "other" sounds can swing wildly between volume extremes but the listener does not lose track of that sound which he is concentrating on. And that's what one should be capable of doing when listening to playback, that's a quality marker.
I would beg to differ about the ability of recording systems to capture the detail that makes it possible - I have experienced many times a degree of amazement with old, 'poor' recordings - at an earlier stage I have thought, this is too messy, too confused a recording, it will never unravel enough to allow me to hear 'into it' - but, lo and behold, a sufficient extra degree of refinement of the audio playback further down the track, becomes just that little bit extra needed for the "signals processing ability" to kick in, and get the job done.
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Yes, just one. Why do you actually encourage the gas? Isn't there already too much?
Bad connections do pass the pauseable physics test for audible problems in the audio chain. Cable directionality carrying AC does not. Grain structure and micro-diodes are valid theories in the lab, but even less valid in the real world than skin effect. They serve only as foundation to the best lie, one based on a grain (sorry) of truth.
Lets look at bad connections so we can separate physics from snake oil:
Poor metal to metal contact is most frequently caused by fretting corrosion. I am sure everyone has re-seated a connection and had a problem go away.
It is common belief that if you have gold plated connectors, you don't get any oxide. That would be true if the thickness of the gold (both halves) was sufficiently thick as not to have any micro-pours. Well, bad news is typical plating is about 5 times too thin. This allows the oxidation of the substrate, tin/nickel/copper to bleed through the pores. Micro fretting (vibration) causes these oxides to ball-up, actually lifting the contact points apart with insulating oxides. Re-seating the connector wipes these away for a time.
This is not difficult to prevent. All you must do is prevent any oxygen from getting into the connection. I know three ways; solder/weld, extreme high force, or as the phone and automotive companies figured out 40 years ago, petroleum jelly in the connector.
Neither high pressure or grease enjoys wide spread application in hi-fi as far as I can tell. Carmoline was about as close as we got. Screw terminal blocks were pretty close to high pressure when we were smart enough to use them for speakers. I do note, in most micro 20 turn pots that are sealed have grease over the contact strip. Jump into your WAYBACK machine to the days of TV tuners, and we routinely hosed down the tuner contacts with Blue Stuff. When I built my TVR electrical system, I used Packard Weather-Pak connectors and made sure both the crimps and the pins were well covered in grease. This allowed me to completely banish "Lucas, the prince of darkness" from the car. Ironic, the Lucas bullet connectors were a very good design had they been greased.
Did you pick up that detail? The crimp inside the connector matters too.
PS: Actually, soldering has it's own long term problems For practical sake, a good solder joint will outlast the electrolytic caps, so it is not a problem within design life-cycle of consumer audio. I will let others here who have deeper expertise in that subject comment further if they wish.
Thanks for that rundown, tvrgeek. Especially interesting about the gold plating issues, I hadn't seen it explained as such before - I definitely found that the typical audio gold connectors useless for maintaining integrity.
Petroleum jelly I have tried, several times, but for whatever reason it has not worked for me - in audio at least. Very high pressure, engineered connectors appeals strongly to me - if anyone can recommend some existing system out there, most likely not in audio, I would be interested in knowing about it ...
Petroleum jelly I have tried, several times, but for whatever reason it has not worked for me - in audio at least. Very high pressure, engineered connectors appeals strongly to me - if anyone can recommend some existing system out there, most likely not in audio, I would be interested in knowing about it ...
Some quite funky connectors, there are all sorts out there, look for high reliability connectors, MIL-DTS-5015 range will provide sealed contacts, probably a bit extreme looking need a big amp🙂
Invalid Request
Hyperboloid contact technology
LOL😀😀
Invalid Request
Hyperboloid contact technology
LOL😀😀
now would the poo be suspended on air cushions or magnetic suspensions, and if not would its weak (but undeniable) gravitational field not influence the crystalline structure of the interconnect ??????
I call BS on this. Frank you haven't shown us one single concrete example of what you have done in the past 30 years since you have joined this website to make an audio system do what you claim it can do to your own satisfaction. All you've done is talk about how you have "discovered" this or that but you don't tell us anything. It's always up to us to make our own discoveries through your clues. 🙄
Okay, so tell us how this magic component further down the track is going to make a silk purse out of that horribly recorded sound track? I myself consider what "improvements" you are hearing as just your brain giving up and accepting the sound as "better". This is also the explanation of 99.9% of the so called "burn in" factor people like to use. It's NOT that the sound changed, it's because your brain adjusted to the sound over time.
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